Monthly Archives: June 2011

No offense to those who sit in a cubicle all week long and shoot weddings on the weekends, but is that who you really want to capture some of the most important photos of your life? Dad says, “this isn’t kickball…you don’t get a do over.”

So what is it that you take with you at the end of your wedding day? A piece of cake wrapped multiple times to try and prevent freezer burn (it doesn’t work), a new ring, sore feet, a beautiful gown that looks like the bottom was used as a swifter, happy memories and…. the images created by your wedding photographer.

Dad likes to ask brides if their house is on fire what would they grab? Number one response…you guessed it, photographs. (Hey what about the dog?) For something so very important shouldn’t your photographer be a full time professional? Someone who is highly trained and passionate about telling your unique story?

When planning your wedding, even one on a tight budget, your photographer is not the place to skimp. You should choose a professional with experience, technical skills and professional gear to ensure your photographs are worth grabbing when you smell smoke.

Dad says it’s fine to have your brother-in-law help build your deck but is that who you want to entrust your wedding photography to? I think not. I say you hire someone like my Dad or Uncle Josh who are full time professional photographers. You’ll be glad you did.

The most recent wedding Dad and Mom shot was Liana and Adam’s wedding at The Stone Church in Independence, MO. The Stone church is over 100 years old and is a really neat structure. It has a pipe organ and a grand piano in front of the church, above the alter and both were used during their ceremony. It also has beautiful stained glass windows that looked stunning in the photos.

The Stone Church

The bride looked beautiful. She wore a strapless gown that had lots of lace, beads and sequins. The train was very very long and very beautiful. (I do not understand why the bottom of the back of a wedding dress is called a “train” because there is no engineer or caboose or wheels on that dress but that’s what I am told it’s called.)

Liana's Dress

The girls in the bridal party got ready outside of the church in a ginormous, very cool motor coach, compliments of a friend of the bride’s. They also used the motor coach as the bridal party’s transportation from the church to the reception, which was held at Adam’s Pointe Conference Center in Blue Springs, MO. I think that is a really cool idea if you are lucky enough to know someone with a ginormous motor coach that you can use!

Anyway, I digress. After the ceremony all of the wedding guests gathered outside the church’s entrance and were given a white envelope. They were told not to open the envelopes until the bride and groom appeared. When the bride and groom finally appeared, everyone opened their envelopes and you will never guess what happened! Butterflies flew out of them. Real honest to goodness butterflies! How cool is that? I’d give that two paws up! (I probably would have chased a few if I had been there…I’m just sayin’.)

The reception was in a nice, large room and there was a live band. The bride and groom’s first dance was very elaborate and well done. Either they practiced A LOT or they are by nature very good dancers. They had a regular wedding cake that was very pretty but they also had another cake on the side. That cake was shaped like a cooler with ice and beer bottles sticking out of the top. Mom told me the beer bottles were edible and that I would have loved to eat one because they were made of sugar. WOOF that’s what I’m barking about!!! I can only imagine…

The Reception

Liana and Adam had a wonderful wedding then were off to Hawaii for their honeymoon. All of us at Real Deal Wedding Photography wish them many years of happiness.

It was a very very long car ride back to Kansas City but for the life of me I can’t remember some of the trip. You see, I am told that even though there is a large space with a soft fluffy bed for me to lie on, I get a little fussy on long car trips. For some reason it gets on Mom and Dad’s nerves when I pant over their shoulders and pace around the back seat. Sooooo…my mom gave me a big piece of bread (I love bread) that had three pink pills inside. They came out of a package marked BENADRYL…whatever that means. All I know is that my eyelids were very heavy as I tried to watch the gianormous trucks passing by when we drove through the beautiful Smoky Mountains. (Dad calls that part of the drive the semi-truck luge.)

Smoky Mountains

We stayed in a nice, dog friendly hotel in Chattanooga Tennessee. I could tell there had been many dogs there before me and after searching for a while I found the bathtub to be the best place to sleep. No strange smells there and it was nice and cool. In the morning Mom gave me another piece of the bread (yum) and it was back in the car again. We made it home safe and sound and we have been very busy getting use to our Kansas City home again.

I have heard my dad and mom talking about the weddings we get to shoot this summer in Kansas City. They say shooting weddings in the Midwest is much different than shooting weddings in Florida so it’s a good thing that in our house we love different and exciting assignments. Just the other day we had an engagement photo session and the weather was kind of yucky. Dad and Mom made the best of it and the pictures turned out great! Like most artists, we do some of our best work when we are challenged in some way. It also helps when the brides and grooms are willing to try fun and different things.

It is great to be back. We are looking forward to the summer wedding season here and the couples we will get to meet. (I hope I get to kiss another bride!)